Since the beginning of dogs being household family pets, there have always been new trends. Not your fashion accessory trend, but what owners can or should be doing their dogs or puppies. The most recent buzz word every dog owner is conscious of, or talking about now is “socialisation“.
As a daycare centre we get many new owners wanting their dogs to join us because they want their dogs or puppies to be up on their socialisation. Daycare is a fantastic source of this, especially with ones like WT that have a vetting process meaning only dogs that are friendly will attend, so you know your dog will have positive experiences. Daycare will mean your dog or puppy will see an array of different breeds, ages, temperaments, new people, new environments, the lot.
However it’s important to also realise while daycare is social, it’s not necessary socialising. What we mean by that is while dogs of all ages get a valuable source of interactions with various other dogs its only half ticking the socialisation box. To be effectively socialised dogs also need to learn what is appropriate in these social situations and how to be confident in them too. These skills will only be learnt with training classes and/or social walks with professionals. Free play at puppy parties or group meet ups, might be social for the owners, but here dogs (puppies especially) can pick up bad habits from other dogs and without a professional interfering, watching or guiding dogs and owners, therefore they can be detrimental to learning or create new bad habits.
Together professional socialisation classes or group lessons, and daycare complement each other, with a balance of appropriate learning of social queues and behaviours, mixed with application in a less structured setting of free play. Otherwise without guidance what can happen is “flooding”, where dogs have too much of these unstructured, unregulated social interactions with random events constantly occurring and it’s overwhelming, bruises their confidence or can increase other behaviour difficulties while the dogs try to find a way of coping, such as humping or hyperactivity.
This same line of thinking is why you’ll often find us recommending shorter sessions, or sessions with gaps in between for days off so our daycare dogs can both rest but also absorb what they have learned, seen, heard, and all the other stimulation they have encountered the previous day.
Socialisation is key, but when introduced correctly.
Small local business Shoutout!
Jackador have started their socialisation classes for 2022, which can help with exactly what’s been discussed in the article above.
What do the sessions involve?
There is maximum number of 3 dogs per session group, with each group interaction lasting 30 mins. These are with an accredited trainer & behaviourist, to help bring each classes dogs together. Starting the introductions to nice, confident play, with the ability to also focus on the owners when its time for the play to finish or gets too much.
It’s suitable to all breeds, ages and personalities (from nervous to boisterous) with classes taking place in a safe, controlled environment at Waggy Tales.
For more details or to book visit:
or call: 07976 139859